'Nobody's perfect': 'Modern Family' stars Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould on why they're not role models

LOS ANGELES – Ariel Winter isn't interested being anyone's role model.

"I hate that phrase, honestly," she tells USA TODAY while sitting for an interview with her "Modern Family" co-star Nolan Gould during a pause in filming the ABC comedy's one-hour series finale (Wednesday, 9 EDT/PDT, preceded by a retrospective, 8 EDT/PDT).

The concept of being a role model wrongly suggests there's a certain way to act and doesn't account for individual differences, says Winter, 22, who plays Alex Dunphy and grew up on set with Gould, 21, who plays her younger brother, Luke, and Rico Rodriguez, 21, who plays their grandfather's stepson, Manny Delgado. (Sarah Hyland, who plays elder Dunphy sibling, Haley,is 29.)

Winter, who has discussed the challenges of growing up under social-media scrutiny, says the role model concept isn't fair for anyone involved.

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"It sucks for the person you're putting on the pedestal because nobody's perfect and we all make mistakes," she says. "The role model idea is, 'Follow this perfect person and your life will be great,' But that doesn't exist. So, for me, I think (being a) role model is kind of crap. Everyone should grow to be their own unique person that they love and that they're happy with."

Viewers also don't really know people who live in the public eye, which complicates efforts to emulate them, says Gould, whose well-meaning but oblivious Luke often seems not to be from the same planet – let alone family – as brainy, sensitive Alex.

"Odd as it is to say, I would rather people look up to our characters than us as people, just because on social media and in interviews it's not easy to tell exactly who somebody is," he says. "That's why it's really nice when you have characters like Alex, who is a smart, empowered young woman. That's a very nice thing to look up to."

Gould also sees a silver lining when it comes to observing his character, who is prone to walking into walls and other absent-minded behavior.

"I don't know if I want people to look up to Luke because he's a bit of a mess up. (But) that is part of life. One of the incredible things about getting to play these characters for so long is that people get to grow up with (them) and learn from (their) mistakes."

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Winter, who says the public gets only gets a partial, and often misleading, impression of actors from snapshots in press coverage, paparazzi photos and social media, is all for looking up to a character like Alex.

"There's an arc, and you can be like, 'I want to do that.' Or 'I think that that's something that's interesting for me to do,'" says Winter, whose character graduated from college, went to Antarctica and moved on to a promising career.

Both stars praise their "Family" colleagues for creating a healthy environment for child actors maturing into young adults, but acknowledge their experiences growing up on camera have been different.

"I know we have very separate stories on that," Gould says. "I'd say that if you were going to choose a set to grow up on, this has been a pretty good one. Everyone's been super-supportive and we really are just like family."

"This is the best set to grow up on if you're going to grow up on a TV show, but it's just weird in general. You're going through all the phases of your early years in front of millions of people and people on the Internet have so many opinions," Winter says.

Harsh criticism on social media can take a toll.

"While it does make you stronger, more resilient, it also breaks down part of you because you're trying to grow and form and build your own confidence and love of yourself. And people are really trying to tear that down," she says. "You wish that nobody ever said that to you, because it doesn't feel good. But at the same time it makes you care less about what other people think and more about your own opinion."

However, a much-documented childhood has benefits, too.

"It's a lot of fun because we now get to go back and look at our younger years," says Winter. "We can be like, 'Oh, wow! That's the year I had braces. That sucked.' You get to have those memories on video."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Modern Family': Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould talk about growing up on TV